Swear It Again
by TraceAce
Summary: Part one of three in the Love Doesn't Ask Why series. Stephanie and Jericho seem to have forgotten they've met a long time before he was hired in the WWF..and the fact they didn't always hate each other..
1. Stephanie McMahon At ANY Age Will Be A H...

July, 1990:  
  
  
Stephanie slouched back in the seat of the car she was sitting in, her eyes closed, her head bobbing to the beat that was pulsing through her ear phones.  
  
"Girls just want to have fun.." she mumbled under her breath as she sang along with her tape. What a great present her dad had bought her, she had the *best* tape walkman out there! None of her friends had it!  
  
"Are you listening to that weird girl again?" she heard her dad ask her over the blare of the overly-happy music that she was currently listening too. She pulled her earphones done so they hung loosely around her neck.  
  
"She's not weird, Daddy." she smiled at the stern faced man who was actually driving for once. Usually he had his servants doing it for him. She would do just that when she got older. She was a basic princess, for god's sake, her dad could pay her lifetime 3 times over!  
  
"When I was your age I listened to real music." he droned on. She rolled her eyes. He was going to tell his dumb story again about how music today was effecting her mind. He never did this to Shane, who listened to that disgusting hard rock music.  
  
"Daddy, she's not that bad." she smirked, fingering her new 'toy' nonchallantly. "I like her music."  
  
"How old is that tape, anyway?" he rolled his eyes. "It seems like you've been listening to it for years."  
  
"New music is crappy." she pouted. "I don't like the stuff Shane does."  
  
"Thank goodness." he retorted. "I can't believe how boys wear their hair as long as yours is."  
  
"Sometimes even longer." she giggled. "Are we there yet?"  
  
"For the hundredth time, no." he sighed heavily. "I still can't believe I let you talk me into taking you to see the new talent. You remember the promise, right?"  
  
"Yes Daddy, I remember. No getting in the way. No talking to the wrestlers. Spray them with pepper spray if they try to bother me." she rolled her eyes. "I'm not a little kid any more."  
  
"You're only 13. You're considered 'not a kid' to me when you're 45." he responded flatly.  
  
"When can I start dating then?" she questioned.  
  
"Are you still on that?" he groaned. She smiled innocently.  
  
"I like this boy, daddy..he likes me, I think." she explained. She had told her dad the story a million times all ready.  
  
"You're too young to be concerned with boys." he dismissed, just as he always did. She pouted.  
  
Her dad always treated her like this. She herself was beginning to wonder why she pleaded for 2 days to accompany her father. She pulled her earphones over her ears, not feeling like listening to the 'You aren't ready for boys' speech. He probably had the thing memorized by then. OK, so it didn't help that she asked about it every other day..  
  
She loved watching her father work, she reminded herself. She loved meeting all the wrestlers. Most of them were probably nice to her because of the fact she was the daughter of their boss, but she didn't mind. Plus, she wanted to see Canada. She had dreamed of going since she was little, and learned to ski. Her dad wouldn't let her ski, but still..it was amazing to be there.  
  
They had crossed the border a day and a half ago. They had passed through into a snowy area only once since they got there. It was weird to see snow in July, but she enjoyed seeing it anyway. But for the most, Canada wasn't that snowy, but a little cold compared to her state at this time. All those pictures of a winter wonderland was shot as she saw a pretty cozy atmosphere of Canadian landscape.  
  
She didn't know why her dad just didn't get plane tickets, but her dad was like that. Sometimes he just felt like driving. Sometimes he didn't. He said it would take two days, and this was day two. It wasn't fun driving with her dad, that was for sure. He was boring. Very boring.  
  
And he didn't like her interest in his business. She had a long understanding with her dad that he didn't want her being caught up in wrestling. She couldn't help it though, she loved it as much as Shane did. The whole thing awed her. She wanted to own the company one day too, though she doubted that would happen. At that point, she would love just to be in the ring while it was actually being taped.  
  
She had noted the sign welcoming them to the town of Calgary a few minutes ago. She remembered him mentioning that in the three word title of a place they were going too. Calgary something Canada. It had slipped her mind.  
  
She blinked as suddenly the car slowed and then ultimately parked in front of a house-looking building. Were they here? She hoped so, she hadn't moved from her seat since nine that morning, and now it was four thirty. She was hungry, too.  
  
"Dad, can we eat lunch?" she had complained to her dad. He had mumbled something under his breath and basically tossed a candy bar at her that he had on the dashboard.  
  
That was when she learned her first on-the-road-with-Dad lesson. Never ask him to stop to eat, or you could get hit with flying chocolate.  
  
"We're here." he announced, getting out. She ripped the headphones off her neck, basically tossing it and the player into the back seat. She got out herself and looked at the place they were obviously going to go at.  
  
This was going to be interesting. 


	2. Wow, Who'd Think Those Two Could Ever Ge...

"You have your pepper spray?" her father asked as they stood outside the door, waiting for it to be answered. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"Dad, I'm NOT going to pepper spray someone who just talks to me." she smirked. "You're being dumb."  
  
"You know, when you were little, you never talked back to me." he mumbled.  
  
"Dad! That was like a hundred years ago!" Stephanie replied, letting out a groan.  
  
"Try 8." he responded. Stephanie was about to comment, but the door finally swung open.  
  
"Ahh, Mr. McMahon." the old man said, looking at him, then at her. "I see you have brought Stephanie, as well."  
  
"She won't be a bother." he replied quickly. "RIGHT, Stephanie dear?"  
  
"Yes Daddy." she smiled innocently.  
  
"I wasn't worried about it." the old man replied, standing aside. "Please, come in. We've all been waiting for you."  
  
"Thank you." he responded, leading her past him.  
  
"Who's he?" she whispered to her father.  
  
"Mr. Hart." he told her quickly as he closed the door.  
  
"Ooh." she nodded. She had no clue who he was, but decided not to say anything.  
  
"The room where we train is over here." he gestured to the door. "I have to get something.Please feel free to go down and start looking around." He left them standing there.  
  
"He's sort of old." she commented when he had disappeared behind a corner. Vince looked down at her.  
  
"Be good, Stephanie." he replied in a warning tone. She hushed and just numbly followed him through the door that was pointed out to them.  
  
She heard the sounds of people wrestling the minute he opened the door. There was a staircase going down, and it blocked her view of the area below. It was soon revealed to her, however, when she followed him down the rickety wooden staircase.  
  
It was a pretty neat looking place. Stephanie had seen dozens of them before, but she never saw a Canadian one. Even though it was basically the same as the rest of them, it was special just because of that single reason. She was glad this 'Mr. Hart' spoke English, because that meant the people who were wrestling did too. She knew a few places had a lot of French-Canadians, and she didn't think she could take hearing French all day.  
  
"Just sit over there and don't cause trouble." her father commanded. She pouted, but he continued to gesture to a corner where no one was. She stamped over there, sitting in a vacant folding chair.  
  
"I should have brought my tape player." she mumbled to herself. She should have known this would probably turn out to be boring. Her dad never let her do anything fun. She could take care of herself! She glanced at the people in the room.  
  
She first noticed what seemed to be one of the elder of the group, an average built man with one of the mullet haircuts that were so popular at the time. He was shorter then most of the wrestlers she had seen, but he definitely seemed strong and scary to boot. She wouldn't want to mess with him. Her eyes continued to glance about the area, to all the generic wrestlers who all looked basically the same.  
  
Her dad was talking to Mr. Hart again. He seemed to be showing him the wrestlers in the room. She let out a bored sigh. She put her feet up on a bag that looked like it held equipment. This was going to be awhile, she knew she should just get comfortable, maybe even take a long nap. If she got up her dad would probably kill her, so it was really no use.She surrendered to her father's wishes and just sat quietly, watching everyone blankly, basically spacing out. An hour passed slowly.  
  
"Hey.." Stephanie blinked, quickly coming out of her daydream daze. She looked up and almost fell off her chair at the person that had suddenly just appeared by her. He smiled at her as she just stared numbly at him for a moment. "You all right?"  
  
"Uh.." she stammered. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Good. I have a question for you.." she couldn't help but notice how nice his smile was. And his eyes. Actually, he himself was pretty damn cute.  
  
"What's that?" she asked nervously.  
  
"Can you please let me get in my bag for a second?" he inquired. She blinked, not understanding. "All right, let me put it this way. Can I please see your leg rest for a second?"  
  
She instantly blushed, quickly understanding. "O-oh! I'm sorry!" she quickly took her feet off of the bag. "I thought..I mean.."  
  
"It's all right." he assured, kneeling by the bag, starting to rummage through it. "You're McMahon's daughter, right?" He questioned as he continued looking for what he was looking.  
  
"Yes." she replied, beaming slightly.  
  
"You look kind of bored." he chuckled slightly.  
  
"My dad thinks I'm going to break something." she sighed. He let out another dry chuckle.  
  
"This whole place is about breaking things. Particularily our bodies." he smirked.  
  
"He also said I should pepper spray anyone I don't know if they talk to me." she replied matter-of-factly. The man looked up at her a moment.  
  
"Well I don't want that to happen." he smiled again. "I'm Chris Jericho. There, we know each other."  
  
"..True." she realized, then laughed. He suddenly pulled out some dark black tape from his bag.  
  
"Here we go." he announced lightly. "Well, I guess it's back to work.Nice talking to you McMahon."  
  
"It's Stephanie." she replied as he stood up. He glanced at her. "I don't want you to pepper spray me either."  
  
"There's a handheld Paperboy game in my bag." he explained, turning away. "You're welcome to use it, Stephanie. Just put it back, it's all I have to do after training." She watched him walk away, and couldn't help but get a slightly wider grin.  
  
"Chris Jericho, huh?" she asked herself outloud in a whisper. She silently made a vow to make her dad at least give him a little more attention. 


	3. Read The Dialogue, Children..Steph Says ...

She couldn't help but continue to watch Chris the rest of the day. She had decided that he was still pretty new at the wrestling business, especially because he seemed the youngest out of all the people there.He looked 18 or 19, maybe even 20, but nothing higher then that.His actually didn't treat her like all the other people did, probably because for once her dad didn't pay his salary.  
  
Luckily her dad didn't actually SEE her talking to him, though. He would have probably flipped. Still, she felt a need to repay him for well..actually talking to her when she was about to die of boredom. She thought for awhile, trying to figure a way to repay him without looking like she had talked to him.  
  
She quickly came to the idea. She stood up, walking lightly over to her father's side. He was chatting with the man she had noticed before, the other guy who stood out from the group. Her dad instantly noticed her and glanced towards her.  
  
"Dad, can I talk to you?" she questioned.  
  
"Is it important?" he inquired, giving her an annoyed look.  
  
"Um..should I go?" the man who he was talking to asked.  
  
"No. No..it's fine." he informed the man. "Stephanie, this is Chris Benoit, someone I was having a conversation with." He was annoyed she had butted in while he was talking. "Now you have 2 seconds."  
  
"Dad, I've been watching everyone wrestle, and I think I see someone that you should pay attention too." she explained.  
  
"Which one?" he asked, and she knew he was just asking so he could get her out of his hair.  
  
"His name is Chris Jericho." she nodded, gesturing to him secretly. Vince glanced his way, then looked at her.  
  
"And how do you know his name?" he asked sternly.  
  
"Um..I heard Mr. Hart call him that." she nodded, quickly covering. "Please, Daddy? He's really good."  
  
"Fine, fine, I will." he sighed. "Now..go sit back down or something.Daddy's busy."   
  
She sighed, walking back to her sitting spot, slouching in the same chair. She picked up the paperboy game she had gotten from Chris's bag and started playing it. Hey, at least she tried. She could sleep easy knowing that she had at least mentioned his name to her father. Too bad he didn't actually respect her opinion often because she was still 'a kid'.  
  
Her stomach growled loudly. It had been hours since she ate a real meal. Her dad had been stuffing her with all the stuff he had in his car, which wasn't much. Futhermore, the stuff he gave her was not too filling. She tried to ignore it but after awhile it was just getting annoying. She glanced around, then suddenly looked at Chris's bag.  
  
He had to have something in there. She glanced toward him, he wasn't paying attention. She opened it lightly, looking inside. Most of it was wrestling junk, but then something caught her eye.A small bag of rice cakes. She slowly slid them out, trying not to be noticed. Unfortunantly, he did.  
  
When she got to the sitting position, she nearly fell over again because he was suddenly just in front of her again. Caught red handed. He smirked at her as she gave a weak smile.  
  
"Erm..wow, I could have swore this was that game.." she lamely tried to excuse herself.  
  
"You know, having a father as big as him, I'm surprised that you have to stoop so low as to steal food from ME of all people." he smiled good-naturely.  
  
"All he's given me was a candy bar and stale cereal." she explained, sighing. "I'm sorry."  
  
"No matter." he shook his head. "Take a few. I don't really eat them anyway. Tastes like apple flavored cardboard."  
  
"I'm hungry enough to eat them." she replied, pulling out out, crunching on it lightly.He was right, but she didn't care. "Did you see me taking them out?"  
  
"No, actually, I was just going to put away that tape I took out. Forgot to do that earlier." He dropped the tape in the bag. "I think your dad has been watching me. Makes me nervous.  
  
"Oh, really?" she questioned. He shrugged.  
  
"Probably just false hope. I've only been wrestling for a month here." he replied.  
  
"You're really good." she responded, swallowing the last part of the rice cake she had in her hand. "Not that I was watching you or anything.."  
  
"As long as you aren't laughing, I don't mind." he grinned. "It wouldn't be good if Vince's daughter found me bad."  
  
"No, it would be bad if Shane didn't like you. My Dad doesn't really care what I think sometimes." she replied uncomfortably.  
  
"Well do you think I'm good?" he questioned.  
  
"Yeah, especially for a newer wrestler." she nodded. "A lot of them are usually messing up every other move. I've only seen you mess up maybe once..twice at the most."  
  
"Well then, that opinion means a lot to me." he paused. "I usually don't get told stuff like that. Tough love or something. Thanks kid." He ruffled her hair playfully, and she smiled, trying not to completely blush.  
  
"I only say what I see." she shrugged, trying not to look embarrassed. "You better go wrestle again. I think my dad would kick your ass if he saw you talking to me."  
  
"I guess so." he nodded. "Well, it's been nice talking to you Stephanie. Again. Hey, one more thing.." he scratched his head. She peered at him.  
  
"I'm not sure if I'll be able to talk to you again." he explained. "Just to tell you."  
  
"Maybe not. You never know, my dad might hire you one day." she smiled.  
  
"Yeah, hey, maybe you'll even be in my corner, huh?" he laughed. She chuckled.  
  
"Hey, if the unlikely event that my dad actually let me be 100 feet from the wrestling ring, I promise I will." she wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Well anyway, back to work. See you around." he turned and walked away, humming lightly to himself.  
  
She suddenly felt herself wishing she was just a little bit older. "Wouldn't Daddy be happy to hear that now I'm getting crushes on 19 year old wrestlers." she muttered crossly under her breath. She sighed, eating another rice cake. Maybe her dad would hire him one day.  
  
She couldn't believe how much she was hoping for that. 


	4. Present Day: Yanno, They Really Don't Li...

August, 2001  
  
"You love causing trouble don't you?" Chris Jericho looked up from the magazine he was reading to peer at a hobbling Lita. He blinked.  
  
"What did I do this time?" he inquired.  
  
"You realize that getting on the bad side of an owner of a federation is not a good idea, right?" He grinned innocently at her as she basically limped to a seat next to him, sitting down.  
  
"Well, at least I'm not messing with a big scary superhero and his slut sidekick." he replied, trying not to snigger.  
  
"That's an entirely different subject." she paused. "And they only took me out because Ivory slammed some metal shit into the back of my knee."  
  
"Either way, I'm fine, Lita. Don't worry about me." he beamed. "I've dealed with her before."  
  
"But you have never dealed with her as ECW owner." she reminded. "When she was with WWF she only had like..6 people tops that would really fight you. Now she has a bit more."  
  
"When have I not walked away all right yet?" he smirked.  
  
"Just don't get cocky Chris." Lita replied. "If that's possible."  
  
"Ha ha." he rolled his eyes. "So, what brought this up?"  
  
"She's starting to send Rob to attack you." she explained. "You have another match with him."  
  
"And you're here calling me cocky? That guy's ten times worse then I ever am." he grinned. Lita sighed.  
  
"You're absolutely impossible to talk to." she responded, sounding amused. "I bet you don't even know why you two started fighting in the first place."  
  
"Oh! I know that!" he beamed. "Because she's a flit-"  
  
"Spare me the details." Lita rolled her eyes. He pouted. "Just be careful, that's all I'm saying."  
  
"You worry too much." Chris laughed. He stood up. "Anyway, I have to get going."  
  
"Where are you off too?" she questioned. He smiled.  
  
"To look for Stephanie of course." he replied innocently. Before Lita could say a word, he walked out.  
  
Chris walked down the hallways, humming lightly. He nodded to a few of the workers, who greeted him. Everyone seemed to know what he was up too. Or, at least, he felt that way. Before he could think futher about his little 'no surprise' dilemma, he found exactly who he was looking for.She was leaning against a wall, looking like she was staring off into space.However, as he approached, she snapped out of it. The minute she saw him her face instantly held a scowl.  
  
"Hello Stephanie." he grinned innocently at her.  
  
"Don't you have someone else to bother?" she questioned crossly.  
  
"Sure I do." he nodded. "But I find you to be the most entertaining."  
  
"I'm honored." she replied sarcastically. "Well, just to tell you, you're going to get your ass kicked tonight."  
  
"You're so friendly, Steph." he rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you're sending your three letter buddy?"  
  
"Yes." she smirked. "You think you're so smart Chris Jericho. But you don't know who you're messing with."  
  
"Sure I do." he beamed. "Your initials are so simple, H--"  
  
"And don't think you're going to get away with what you have been doing to me. Unlike when I was in the WWF, I now have an entire federation who would just love to kick your ass." she informed.  
  
"I'm glad I'm so loved." he grinned. "Yeah, your wrestlers have sure shut me up..I mean..gees, remember that odd little pay per view? Wow, Rhyno sure showed me.."  
  
"That was just one person." she pointed out angrily. He smiled.  
  
"And RVD will be number two. Bye Steph." he snickered. He walked away, leaving her seething.  
  
She was just too easy. No one seemed to understand that he just didn't fear anyone.Even her, with all her little goonies.He could take care of them.She's never sent him anything he couldn't handle, even if it did take him a bit to handle it. RVD would be pretty easy compared to Rhyno.RVD was basically the same build and size as himself. Now all Chris had to do was get past his hardcore brawling type, and he'd be fine.  
  
But he didn't give RVD enough credit. Chris went through with the match, but it was nothing close to easy. He could see why this guy beat Jeff up so badly. However, he managed to keep in step with him, unleashing the animal if you could say it like that. Chris could never consider himself Hardcore material, but he sure as hell tried.He quickly came to the realization that if he didn't at least get a little into that mindset that Stephanie might actually win for once.  
  
He couldn't let THAT happen, now could he?  
  
And he didn't.After quite a hard match, he managed to barely pin RVD. Chris noted Stephanie had appeared at ring side awhile ago, and now she was glaring angrily at him. He gave her a cheeky grin as he basically staggered up. She quickly retreated, stalking up the ramp. Oops, did he make her mad?  
  
He knew Lita was worrying about nothing. 


	5. This Is Why You Should Never Eavesdrop..

Jericho winced. RVD had really worked on his arm, and now it was killing him. He pretended not to notice it.He refused to show any signs that anything Stephanie threw at him had hurt him. Even though his arm was pulsing with pain. And he knew he should get it checked out.  
  
Hey, no one had to tell him, he all ready knew he was a stubborn bastard.  
  
It was at that moment he noted talking, and he felt a slight jump of recognition. It couldn't be..he peered around the corner to see Chris Benoit and Lita standing there. Benoit? So, he was back. He knew he wasn't hearing things. He was about to go over there, when he realized they were talking about him. Forgetting about his arm, he quickly ducked back behind the corner, listening to what they were saying.  
  
"Yeah, I've seen what he's been doing." Benoit told Lita. "Kinda funny. You know, he owes her a lot."  
  
"Chris owes Stephanie?" he heard her ask. Chris had suddenly found himself extremely interested. "How do you figure that?"  
  
"Well, he doesn't really owe her for anything in the last few years.."  
  
"But Chris, they only met when he came to WWF." she replied, sounding confused.  
  
"That's where you're wrong." he responded. Chris scratched his head. She was?  
  
"What do you mean?" she inquired.  
  
"Yes, what do you mean?" Chris muttered under his breath.  
  
"When Chris was first starting out, I was one of the people with him. Well, one day, probably a month into his training or something like that, Vince and his daughter came to look at the talent. One of the talents happened to be Chris himself." he heard Benoit chuckle."Well, I never told Chris this, but I was talking to Vince for a bit while he was training, and Stephanie had come up to her dad while we were talking. She had to be..god, 14? 13? For some reason she told her dad to watch him.I think Vince has been watching him ever since."  
  
"Are you serious?" Lita asked, sounding surprised.  
  
"Yeah. Now they're fighting. It's pretty funny, how it turned out." he responded.  
  
"And Chris doesn't know this?" Now he did. Chris blinked, the memories flushing back to him.  
  
"I think it's one of those things he probably wouldn't want to know." Benoit explained. "Anyway, that's past. I guess Stephanie's sure eating her words now."  
  
Chris didn't want to hear any more. Well, this was an interesting twist. He pulled back, walking back the way he came. He felt a little dizzy. It was like he was going through that entire day again. Yeah, now that Benoit mentioned it, he did remember talking to Stephanie. He remembered that day. He couldn't believe that he had forgotten about it.Then again, it WAS what..11 years ago?  
  
So, she had made Vince watch him. Big deal.So they had gotten along back then. Things were different now. Very very different.He was older and she was older..and now she was even more rebellious then she was when he first met her.  
  
"Chill out." he berated himself. He didn't know why the news upsetted him so. "I can't believe Benoit never told me.."  
  
And that's when he bumped into something. He was so surprised that he basically fell backward, onto his ass. "Great, my ass hurts now too.." he mumbled grumpily, looking up to see what he crashed into.He instantly felt himself for some reason panic.  
  
"Watch where you're going you loser." she said sharply.Chris looked at her, his mind suddenly bringing him back to the vision of her innocently eating his food. He shook his head, standing up.  
  
"Sorry." he mumbled, not even realizing he said anything. She blinked, looking at him from the ground. She froze when he pulled her up. "I'm gonna get going. Excuse me." Stephanie stared at him in shock, but moved aside. He felt her eyes follow him as he passed her by.  
  
"Chris!" he stopped in his tracks. He turned, looking at her from his now safe distance. "Are you OK?" He just turned around, not answering her, walking away again.  
  
What the hell just happened? That had to be the first time Jericho's mind went blank when he saw her. Usually a string of insults came to mind. Hell, he could think of tons of them at that point, all of them perfectly mean and Jericho-worthy, but he didn't think of any of them when he was face to face with her.  
  
"Oh my god, I'm losing my touch." he realized outloud to himself.  
  
"Are you that lonely without me, Chris?" Chris froze. Perfect timing. He turned to find Chris Benoit staring at him oddly. He didn't blame him, he did seem like he was standing there talking to himself.  
  
"You!" Jericho pointed his finger at Benoit. So this was how it felt to freak out. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?!"  
  
"Tell you what?" Benoit inquired, blinking.  
  
"That she was the one who got Vince to watch me." he hissed. Benoit's face instantly got that 'Oops' look.  
  
"You heard that?" he asked nervously.  
  
"Is it true?" he questioned, peering at him. Benoit sighed.  
  
"Yeah, it is." he scratched the back of his head. "But what's it matter? That was a long time ago."  
  
"I.." he paused. "I have no idea. Chris, I just bumped into her."  
  
"And this is bad because..?" Benoit asked.  
  
"I couldn't think of anything mean to say." he said, now sounding like he was panicking. "Nothing. Now I can, but when I was by her, poof! Gone! This is horrible!"  
  
"Well, it's good to see you're as high strung as you were when I left.." Benoit coughed.  
  
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" he cried out.  
  
"All right, fine," Benoit replied calmly. "Just calm down. I'm sure it's just some passing thing. You'll be able to make fun of her by tomorrow, I bet."  
  
"What if it doesn't?! Chris, my career is based on making fun of her!"  
  
"Is there a degree for that?" Benoit couldn't help but laugh. He stopped when he noted the glare he was getting. "All right, listen. Just get a good night's rest. Don't think about it. You're just a little wired because of the fact helped you. Just remember how long ago that was."  
  
"You're right." he nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"You all right now?" he grinned.  
  
"I think so." he scratched his head. "I guess it just sort of freaked me out--"  
  
"As it should. It is your 'career' after all." he sniggered.  
  
"Man, you've only been here for not even an hour probably..you're all ready picking on me?" Chris groaned.  
  
"Well, I have to make up for all the times you did it to me." he smirked. If Chris didn't feel like he was having one of those panic attacks, he would have said something in reply. Instead, he decided to take up Benoit's advice.  
  
He was going to sleep. Very very long. Hopefully by the time he woke up it will have passed. 


	6. Hey Chris, There's A Word For People Lik...

There was just one problem about his plan to sleep it off.  
  
He had to fall asleep first.  
  
Chris turned again in bed, staring at the ceiling. Something was bothering him about the memories he had just suddenly gotten back. He was forgetting something. Something that he might have been unconsciously trying to remember for a long time.Was that why it was bothering him? Probably.  
  
But what was it? That's where his mind drew a blank. He sighed, wishing Benoit knew. He wouldn't, though, he didn't know they actually talked for the few minutes that they did. He was positive whatever was bothering him stemed from the first or second conversation he ever had with her.  
  
He decided that he would just stay away from her. If he didn't see her, he didn't have to make fun of her. Simple as that. He knew it wasn't going to be simple, as she seemed to be everywhere, but he decided not to think about it that way. He would find a way to stay away from her. He knew he could do it. He just had to be sneaky.  
  
He obviously didn't sleep well that night. And the entire day sort of sucked too. Actually, it was a bit funny, Lita had to come over and make sure he didn't die or something like that. He was trying to stay in for the day, you know, because of all places, she would never go there. That idea was shot down.  
  
"Chris, what's wrong?" Lita rolled her eyes. "Your best friend has come back after what..3 months? He isn't going to be here forever, you know. He's gotta go back home soon."  
  
"Erm..I don't feel good." he lied. She didn't look very convinced.  
  
"Right." she smirked. "Come on, get up. Matt and Jeff are waiting for us."  
  
"What are we doing?" he sighed in defeat.  
  
"Eating lunch." she giggled.  
  
"But it's..3:30." he replied, looking at the clock. Damn, so that was why he was hungry.  
  
"It's a late lunch. Come on." he looked at her defiantly. "Don't make me drag you."  
  
"Like you can." he smirked. He blink as she suddenly took his arms and began to drag him out of bed. "The fuck..?! Lita! All right, all right! Lemme go!" she shrugged and let him go. His upper body, which was currently off the bed, fell instantly. "Ouch!" the rest of his body slid off the bed, and he ended up on his back, staring up at a snickering Lita.  
  
"You told me to let you go.." she smiled innocently.  
  
"If you weren't my friend and you weren't a girl, I'd kick your ass right about now." he grumbled. He felt her help pull him up. He looked at her to still see a grin plastered on her face. "I hate you."  
  
"I know." she laughed. He sighed and pulled his shoes on, letting her lead him out the door.  
  
They were obviously going to the downstairs diner of the hotel they were staying at. His suspicions were proved when she led him inside. He quickly saw the table they were going to sit at. The Hardy brothers and Benoit were there, as Lita had said. Chris slipped into a seat, and Benoit gave him a confused look.  
  
"You don't look so great, man." Jeff commented.  
  
"I didn't sleep well last night." he replied, giving Benoit a look. Benoit let out a small frown. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" he glanced at Benoit. "Alone?"  
  
"You always keep secrets from us." Jeff pouted. Chris nearly dragged Benoit away from the table, into a little nitch in the wall where the bathrooms were placed.  
  
"I'm getting a feeling sleeping didn't work very well." Benoit said as Chris paced in front of him.  
  
"You win the prize." Jericho replied bitterly. "It probably would have worked...if I could ACTUALLY sleep.."  
  
"Why is it bothering you so much?" he questioned. Jericho shook his head.  
  
"No clue. I know I'm forgetting something. Something important. Whatever it is, it's bugging me. I--"  
  
"EXCUSE me.." Jericho felt his whole body jump.  
  
"Holy shit!" he yelped, falling backwards. Both Stephanie and Benoit stared down at him.  
  
"He's a bit paranoid." Benoit explained to Stephanie.  
  
"I think there's something more wrong with him then that." she smirked. Jericho stood up, glaring at her.  
  
"Don't go sneaking up on me like that!" he said, exasperatedly.  
  
"Well don't get in my way." she retorted, rolling her eyes. She eyed the two. "Not that I care, but why the hell are you acting like you're about to jump out of your skin?"  
  
"I am not." he huffed. Stephanie looked confused.  
  
"No witty comments?" she smirked. He glared at her.  
  
"I've decided..um.." he looked at Benoit for help, but he was waiting to see what he was going to say himself. "I'm too good for you. Why should I waste my time with someone like YOU?"  
  
"Whatever." she rolled her eyes. "Just get out of my way." Jericho moved aside and let her pass, letting out a low 'phew' when she disappeared from sight.  
  
"Smooth move." Benoit snickered. "I loved the falling down part. I'm sure she doesn't think anything is wrong now."  
  
"She surprised me." he mumbled.  
  
"Well, at least now you have a reason not to make fun of her until you go back to normal." he paused. "Whatever normal might be for you."  
  
"Funny." he sighed. "I'm surprised I even got what I said out."  
  
"You're cracking up, man." Benoit shook his head. "Why don't you just TALK to her?"  
  
"Are you crazy? What if someone saw me?" Chris shook his head. "No way. No fucking way."  
  
"You're telling me that you would rather have people seeing you entirely freak out every time she's near you then to just talk it out with her? Who knows, maybe you'll make yet another friend." he grinned broadly.  
  
"A friend? Man, did you take your pain medication or something?" he smirked.  
  
"Stranger things have happened." he replied pointedly. "Let me make an example. For some odd reason, I seem to remember that this time last year we were destroying each other and you made this certain poem a little earlier--"  
  
"But you're different." Chris quickly responded. "You're a guy. And I've known you for a long time."  
  
"Well, hate to say it, but it seems you've known Stephanie for awhile too, it seems." he pointed out. "Just go for it. Hey, maybe if you thank her, you could get it off your conscience and then you can go back to being your dissing self again."  
  
"Wait, you're telling me the only reason I'm going nuts is because I for some reason want to thank her?" Chris questioned.  
  
"Well, I don't actually know for sure, but it's worth a shot. What do you have to lose except a big chunk of your horribly inflated ego?" Benoit shrugged.  
  
"My ego is the perfect size, thank you very much!" Jericho retorted. Benoit burst out laughing. "Hey! What are YOU laughing at?"  
  
"You. If I didn't know any better, Chris, I'd say you seem to be gaining feelings for your enemy."  
  
"You're lucky I'm about to have a nervous breakdown, because under any other conditions, I would have kicked your ass for that remark." Chris huffed.  
  
"Seriously, Chris. You're a wreck, look at yourself! This should not be bothering you as much as it is."   
  
"Get real. Just because she helped me out a decade ago wouldn't make me just suddenly like her." Jericho replied in a hiss.  
  
"You're right." Benoit shook his head. "You're absolutely right. The idea of her helping you didn't make you start liking her. No, whatever the hell is bothering you woke you up to something I have seen for a very VERY long time now. I swear, I tend to think you're more dense then I am sometimes. Now, I suggest we go back to the table before Jeff files a missing person report." He turned and began to walk away.  
  
Chris opened his mouth to speak, but knew it wouldn't change a thing. Benoit was entirely wrong. He was just having one of those weird life crisises. He refused to think of it any other way. 


	7. Chris Has A Big Mouth--

"Have you heard?" Chris was beginning to wonder if people had a radar on him. He glanced towards his door, peering at Kurt Angle who had a look made of a mix of an upset scowl and a happy grin. It was the look Chris was seeing a bit too often now.  
  
"Well, you know me with gossip." Jericho shrugged.  
  
"We have a match tonight." he explained.  
  
"Oh, cool." Chris replied. "Who we against?"  
  
"It's not just us." Kurt shook his head. "Our third member is the one who got us the match."  
  
"What third member might that be?" Chris questioned.  
  
"Lita." Chris really looked up then, giving Kurt a confused look.  
  
"What do you mean?" Chris questioned.  
  
"Well, it seems that Lita opened her mouth at the wrong time. She said something to Stephanie to piss her off royally.Stephanie basically demanded to meet her in the ring tonight, and she actually accepted! Then Stephanie added that it should be a tag team match, and god knows how it became 3 on 3, but she said we would help her." Kurt explained.  
  
"But she's still hurt." Chris shook his head, trying not to notice how his heart basically dropped at the news.  
  
"That's what I'm saying, but she's not listening. She's ready to raise hell. So, you're still in, right?"  
  
"Who else besides Stephanie?" he inquired.  
  
"No clue, she's yet to pick. So, you in?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm in." he nodded, trying not to sound as 'thrilled' as he was about the idea of it all.  
  
"Great. It's up next." Chris blinked. "Come on."   
  
He was glad he suited up early. He shrugged, pulling his shirt off, throwing it haphazardly behind him, following Kurt out his door. Neither Kurt nor Lita seemed to notice the look of utter dispair. This was getting ridiculous. The one time he actually didn't want to see her, she was showing up..everywhere. Whoever was playing the cruel joke on him was going to get his or her ass kicked.  
  
He eyed her the entire match. She had picked Austin and RVD, and neither of them liked Chris particularily. Actually, Austin had been wanting to make him an example for a very very long time. RVD didn't like him because of the fact that Chris could outdo him. Stephanie..well..everyone knew why with THAT one.  
  
The match ended with Lita and Stephanie. Lita managed to pin her, while Jericho himself went after RVD and of course, Angle went after Austin. When she was pinned, Angle and Lita retreated, and so did he. He tiredly walked up the ramp, and only noticed at mid-ramp that the crowd was booing. Chris turned his head and immeditately saw what was happening.  
  
Austin was not very happy at losing. He was taking it out on RVD. RVD was in a fetal position as Austin stomped mudholes in him. Jericho was going to turn around again when he noticed Austin was going after a still-groggy Stephanie McMahon. He had somehow got a microphone.  
  
"I don't care who you are you little bitch." Austin screamed into the microphone. "What? You think you're better then me? What? I am the World Wrestling Federation champion! Without me, your stupid lil' company would cease to exist! What?"  
  
Jericho couldn't believe he was thinking of doing what he was about to do. "I'll have to make an example of you too. What? You think you're special? You think you--" Jericho had heard enough. He all ready knew Austin was about to cream her. He suddenly raced toward the ring, slipping in easily, smashing hard into Austin.  
  
Austin, stunned, fell and retreated out of the ring. Jericho glared at him until he finally backed off. Jericho looked at the occupants in the ring. RVD was recovering. His eyes caught Stephanie's for a second, and he quickly broke it before anything came out of it. Knowing RVD would help her, he slipped out of the ring to catch up with Angle and Lita, who were giving him a look that screamed 'What the fuck just happened?'.  
  
"What the fuck was that?" Kurt Angle bluntly asked when they got to the back. Jericho couldn't believe what he just did himself.  
  
"No one deserves to be hurt by him." he explained, calmly, and even more, truthfully. "No one."  
  
Kurt and Lita watched as he walked past them. He pretended not to notice the still going weird looks he was getting from them. Then again, he would be giving himself a weird look as well if he could. What the hell WAS that about? Had he finally snapped? Helping Stephanie in front of everyone like that..that was as bad as that damn kiss!  
  
He twitched at the memory of it. That was another time his mind sort of went somewhere else. He was thinking about pushing her off or beaming her with a slight hit..you know, one that really wouldn't hurt her since, even if he was mean to her, she was still a girl and he disliked hitting any of them, but something just snapped in him. He was probably as shocked as she was when it happened. and he let her go when he realized what he was doing. He was surprised he could finish the match in the daze he was in after what happened.  
  
"You're not too good at hiding things, are you?" Chris didn't even bother to look who was talking to him. He all ready knew.  
  
"I'm not having a good day today, Benoit." Chris responded, finally looking over to him. He slid off the box he was lazing on. "I suggest you not piss me off any more."  
  
"You know, you're starting to sound like me." Benoit laughed. "Just put in that 'prove me wrong'. Actually, I should say that to you..since you obviously still disagree with me. What you did tonight really didn't convince me, nor anyone else for that matter now."  
  
"What was I suppose to do? Let Austin kick her ass?" Chris asked.  
  
"Well, if you ask me, I think you were suppose too. I don't think the normal Chris Jericho would save her. " Benoit shrugged. "But that's just me."  
  
"Well then the 'normal' Jericho is an ass." he retorted. Benoit laughed.  
  
"Well, for some reason, a lot of people liked the normal one. Now you just confused the hell out of everyone. Not many people are used to seeing the Jericho who saves damsels in distress. Especially when the damsel happens to be the one you yourself have gone after numerous times. If you don't want your insanity getting out, I suggest you not try a stunt like what you did again." Benoit suggested.  
  
"You don't believe me, do you?" Jericho inquired.  
  
"Not a word." Benoit shook his head, not minding the glare he got.  
  
"And you're suppose to be one of my friends." he grumbled.  
  
"I am one of your friends, man." Benoit nodded. "That's why I'm looking out for you. Whether or not you like her, the way you're acting...it's going to make people start to wonder."  
  
"She's everywhere." he frowned. "I can't get rid of her."  
  
"Excuse me?" Chris froze. Benoit looked at Jericho with the 'oh shit..' face. Chris turned to see Lita staring at him angrily. "Well if that's how you feel about me Chris--"  
  
"No! Lita..you have it wrong.." Chris tried to explain. His answer was very very clear, and it came in the form of a very very hard slap. He held his jaw, wincing.  
  
"You could have said it to my face, you know!" Chris watched her stomp off, bewildered. He noted Benoit walk to his side, shaking his head.  
  
"What just happened?" Jericho asked, still wincing at his stinging jaw.  
  
"I think Lita took what we were talking about the wrong way." Benoit confirmed.  
  
"..I hate girls, you know that?" Chris groaned. Benoit smirked.  
  
"Aren't you going to go after her?" he inquired.  
  
"Of course. I need to find someone who sells a flower though." he sighed. "Maybe that'll make up for what happened and she won't ask who we were talking about.."  
  
"I hate to say it, but I'm greatly doubting even 4 dozen flowers could keep her from asking." he replied. "Good luck though!" He began to walk away.  
  
"Aren't you going to help me?!" Chris asked, sounding desperate. Benoit turned, an amused smirk on his face.  
  
"I'm on my vacation, Chris. I can't help you all the time. You'll do fine. After all, you're the one with all the charm. Just tell her the truth." he turned and walked away again.  
  
There was a single problem with that piece of advice. Chris couldn't seem to understand himself what the truth was. It was hidden deep under about a thousand other jumbled up thoughts in his mind. 


	8. He ALSO Isn't That Smart..Heh!

Chris knocked on the door. No answer. He frowned, knocking again. This was the only place she could be. She was ignoring him. He did it again, and finally a weak sound came out from in back of the door.  
  
"Go away." he heard her say. She knocked again.  
  
"Come on, Lita, open up!" he urged. He heard no sounds of movement.  
  
"I don't want to talk to you." he heard her reply. Chris knew this approach was not going to work. He pondered a moment, then noticed how close it seemed the rooms were.He wondered..he moved to the other door and knocked on it. He waited a minute, and suddenly the door opened and a groggy Spike Dudley opened the door, looking at Chris curiously.  
  
"Chris?" he asked, confused. Chris silently thanked God it was someone nice.  
  
"Spike!" he grinned broadly. Spike looked at the flower in his hand, then at him.  
  
"Umm..what's up?" he asked, sounding even more perplexed.  
  
"Your room wouldn't happen to have a balcony, would it?" he inquired. Spike blinked.  
  
"Yeah, it does." Chris watched as Molly walked out of the bathroom, wearing big pajamas. She giggled at him. "Golly, why do you ask?"  
  
"Do you mind if I see the um..view?" he asked. Spike shrugged.  
  
"Come on in." Spike nodded, moving aside. Chris easily walked toward it, opening the sliding door and walking outside. He peered to the right of him. Just what he thought.  
  
"What are you doing?" Molly asked, staring at Chris as he climbed the bars of the balcony. It as wide enough for him to stand on the top.  
  
"Thanks for your help." he grinned at Molly and Spike. He didn't look down, knowing that if this didn't work he'd have a real hurting. Molly let out a stifled gasp when he suddenly leaped.  
  
Chris unfortunantly forgot to judge his jump. He managed to grab hold of her balcony and found himself dangling, his grip not exactly the best. "This was a very VERY bad idea." he groaned.  
  
"Chris!" Molly yelped. His grip was slipping.  
  
"I'm going to die." Chris whispered to himself, though still not trying to panic. He thought the jump would be easy, but nooo..He let out a gasp when he suddenly felt himself tumbling down. He had no clue what the hell to do, so he just tried to grab at anything. His hands grasped what was probably another balcony and his body slammed against it, the air getting knocked out of him. He managed to hold the grip firmer then.  
  
"Oh my god!" he heard. He was wincing, trying to hold himself. Someone was out on the balcony. He managed to look up and saw Stephanie peering down at him. He had a sudden urge to let go purposely. "Chris?!"  
  
"Umm..if you don't mind.." he managed to blurt out. "Can you help me out here!?" She heard her groan, but felt her trying to pull him up. She managed to get him high enough that he could put his feet through the sectioned holes. He pulled himself over, falling to his knees, panting.  
  
"You know, this may seem like so much less of an odd question as what just happened here, but is there a reason why you were just hanging on my balcony?" she inquired the shaken person that was now trying to catch his breath on her balcony.  
  
"My friends told me to hang out more." he said sarcastically, finally catching his breath. "I just hung out on the wrong balcony." He stood up, wincing as his mid-section thoroughly disagreeing with his little adventure. "Oh, this is going to leave a bruise. Ugh.."  
  
"Ew! You're bleeding too!" Stephanie so bluntly pointed out. He knew he was, his face had a slight scratch from god knows what, but it was bleeding quite nicely..if blood was nice, that is.  
  
"I'm sorry my pain is such an annoyance to you." he smirked. She frowned.  
  
"Well, get inside. I think the hotel supplies first aid kits." He paused, looking her over, then took up her offer and walked inside.He frowned, noticing his shirt's sleeve had ripped as well. He watched as Stephanie walked out from the bathroom, carrying a white first aid kit. She placed it on a bed.  
  
"Why are you helping me?" Jericho asked as she opened the kit.  
  
"There's two answers to that." she explained, taking out a cloth and a black bottle out. He watched as she dumped some of the contents on the bottle onto the cloth. "The first is that I am suffering a period of shock right now, stemming from you falling out of the sky out of no where and grabbing onto my balcony. Here, put this on that cut." she handed him the now wet cloth. He took it, eyeing her.  
  
"This isn't acid, is it?" he asked. Stephanie rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, it's acid. I, however, am immune to the effects of it. Yes, it got on my hands, and it did nothing. When you touch it, however.." she trailed off, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"All right, all right, I get the hint." he conceded. "Continue on with your reasoning." He placed it against the cut, and winced as it stung like hell.  
  
"The second reason is the fact that this is just a great way to get you off my conscience. I thought I would actually have to be nice to you for awhile, because of you helping me with Austin, but I think saving you from plummeting to death and then helping you tend to your wounds is more then enough of pay back." she continued, matter-of-factly.  
  
"Plummeting to my death? That's kind of dramatic, don't you--aw, shit." he winced as the pain flared up for a second.  
  
"All right, I saved you from smashing into the pavement and making a mess that of course other people would have to clean." she smirked. "That is SO you."  
  
"You're really weird, did anyone ever tell you that?" Chris asked, wiping the dried blood off his face when the bleeding itself stopped. "Oh shit.."  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Spike and Molly. They must be freaking." he stood up.  
  
"What do you mean? They saw you jump?" she asked. He nodded. "Then what the hell are you doing sitting here? By now they probably think you're dead."  
  
"Listen, thanks for helping me." he managed to say. Stephanie cocked an eyebrow at him, then smirked.  
  
"Don't think I'll do this every day." she replied.  
  
"Well, don't think I'll go jumping balconies every day either." he responded, which actually got a very small grin out of her. He took the cloth, knowing she probably wouldn't want it, and quickly walked out of the room.  
  
The minute he got to the floor he fell, as he fell a good 2 floors, he found the Spike and Molly giving a report. Lita was standing there, looking like she was about to go into hysterics. Molly glanced his way, and promptly fainted. Spike didn't understand why she fell over, until he looked his way as well.  
  
"Chris?!" Spike's mouth dropped. Lita whirled around, looking at him in shock.  
  
"Um..surprise?" he grinned nervously. He suddenly felt arms fling around him and he found Lita had ran to him and pulled him into a hug. He was a bit surprised, but hugged her back. He heard Spike say that it was a false alarm, and the cop, who was looking a little confused, decided to just take that answer and left.Then Spike went to service his own girlfriend, who was on the ground, in a dead faint. He picked her up and carried her into the room.  
  
"Chris, don't you dare scare me like that again!" he was suddenly shoved back, and he stumbled but caught himself. Lita looked a little mad at that point.  
  
"I was just trying to talk to you.." he replied weakly.  
  
"BY JUMPING OFF A BALCONY!?" she cried out angrily. "I swear, if Matt and Jeff were here.."  
  
"Where are they, by the way?" Chris asked, trying to get off the subject.  
  
"If you must know, they have some promotional thing in another state, they're staying over there tonight. But don't think you're going to get away with what you did, Jericho!" Lita glared at him.  
  
"Flower?" he offered, pulling out the slightly bent but still intact rose from his pocket. He was surprised it was still there. Lita stared at it for a moment, sighed, and took it.  
  
"I hate you." she responded, her voice instantly softening.  
  
"I'm sorry I freaked you out, but you weren't listening to me." he explained.  
  
"..But you jumped off a balcony. You could have been killed." she looked down. "That's something even worse then hearing that I'm annoying to you."  
  
"Lita, that wasn't about you. That's what I was trying to tell you." he explained. She was still looking down, but he saw it. Tears. He frowned, pulling her into a hug, not caring that the obvious bruised area of his middle section twitched with very dull, little pain. "I'm all right, I promise."  
  
"When Spike and Molly came in and..they told me they couldn't find you, dead or alive..That's enough stress to give me 20 heart attacks, let me tell you." she sighed.   
  
"Let's go in your room, OK? I'll tell you everything that happened." she nodded and he led her into the room, closing the door. They had all ready probably woken up everyone on the floor. No use giving that much more of a show.  
  
Chris decided to just explain what happened after he fell, and hope that she asked nothing more. 


	9. And Now, For Something Completely Insane...

"Wow, so she helped you." Lita responded, sitting crosslegged on the bed she was sitting on. Chris nodded.  
  
"See? It pays to be nice once in awhile." he smiled.  
  
"I still can't believe you helped her." Lita shook her head. "But I guess it all happened for a reason."  
  
"Yeah, I suppose so." Chris nodded. "You all right now?"  
  
"Not really." she sighed. "Chris, you managed to make me cry two times today, you know that? It's a record for me."  
  
"You know I didn't mean to hurt you." he responded. "And the first time was a misunderstanding, so that's more your fault." he grinned slightly.  
  
"Speaking of that.." Lita peered at him. "If you weren't talking about me, who WERE you talking about?" Chris bit his lip, deciding to himself he would keep as much a secret as possible.  
  
"I was talking about Stephanie. She's been bothering me for the past few days." Chris explained vaguely.  
  
"I see." Lita nodded.  
  
"Well, anyway, now that that's all sorted out, I think it's high time I head to my own bed room and go to sleep." he stood up, stretching, but quickly stopping when he felt a pain. He must have bruised something in there.  
  
"Are you all right?" Lita asked, standing up as well.  
  
"Just a little bruise." he shrugged it off. "Probably when I slammed into Stephanie's balcony."  
  
"Let me see." she responded, and Jericho sighed, letting her slowly walk to him and lift up his shirt. "Oh god.."  
  
Chris looked down. "All right, so it isn't so little--" he grinned, ignoring the pain again.  
  
"Are you sure it's nothing worse?" she inquired.  
  
"I think I'm fine." he nodded. "No blood, besides the one that came out of my cut."  
  
"Well, as long as you're sure.." she sighed, letting his shirt drop so it covered the ugly thing. Chris frowned at the entirely worried look she was giving him.  
  
"Don't look at me like that." he groaned. "I swear, you have to be worst then my mom sometimes."  
  
"Your mom has dealed with you for 30 years. I haven't. Big difference." she pointed out.  
  
"I was always like this. You don't get used to it, trust me." he smirked. "Well, I'm going to get going for real this time. I'm tired as hell. Nothing like hanging from balconies to get you in the mood to sleep."  
  
"Good night, Chris."  
  
He pulled her in another hug, because she was still giving him that sad, 'How the hell could you scare me like that' look. She pulled away slightly, and suddenly, very very unexpectedly, he found her lips against his. At first, it was like his body responded instantly to it, and he found himself kissing back.  
  
And then his brain kicked in, and he pulled away. "What are we doing, Lita?" he asked, softly.  
  
"I'm sorry." she turned away, her head falling. Chris felt his heart racing. Here he was, with an amazingly beautiful girl ready to make out with him, and he was turning her away. The first thing that popped into his head was Matt, someone he never wanted to not have as a friend.  
  
"Lita, you know I love you, but there's one person that loves you so much more." Chris said softly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, Matt is 100 times better then I am. I'm a wreck right now."  
  
"I don't think he loves me anymore." she had wrapped her arms around her middle section, like she was trying to warm herself up.  
  
"Now that I know is not true. Of course he loves you. You're all he talks about. Lita, everyone is messed up because of this Invasion thing. But trust me..he does love you, and no one is worth screwing that up with. Not even me, as handsome and charming as I am." he joked. She turned around, looking at him.  
  
"Do you really think so?" she asked.  
  
"Of course. And I know you love him too." he smiled.  
  
"Of course I love him." she quickly replied. "But..I'm scared."  
  
"About what?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know. That I'm not good enough for him. That..well, I'm a bother to him. He keeps getting hurt, and it's always for me. He lost the belt. It's just continuous." she shook her head. "I don't deserve him."  
  
"Well, sorry to punch a hole in your thinking, but you know Matt wouldn't protect you if he didn't think you were worth it. You gotta calm down, sweetie." he lifted her chin. "I know he thinks you're beautiful..hell, so do I. I could almost say I regret not taking that kiss up." She blushed brightly, but managed a little giggle.  
  
"Now, are YOU all right?" he grinned.  
  
"For a girl who just got life advice from a guy who jumps balconies, I think so." she finally let out a full blown smile. "I'm really sorry for.."  
  
"Don't worry about it." he shook his head. "I know you just needed comfort from someone as cute as Matt."  
  
"Don't give yourself that much credit." she smirked.  
  
"Good, so you are back to normal." he laughed. "Can I go to bed now?"  
  
"One more question." she informed him. "Well, you said that you were a wreck. Why?" Chris blinked. Had he said that? He was so engrossed in getting Lita in the right thinking state, that he must have just zoomed out on what he was saying.  
  
"Nothing." he shrugged.  
  
"I don't believe you, but I'm too tired to argue. Good night, Chris..and thanks."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For not kissing back." 


	10. Chris Jericho: WWF Champion..But WHO Hel...

Chris woke up with the lovely bonus of a very bad headache. The entire week he'd been having has been a complete disaster. He didn't know if he could take any other of the lovely little 'surprises' he had been getting. He groggily got up, stretching. He glanced down, noting the bruise he had gotten last night was significantly better, and didn't hurt as much.  
  
Now that his brain didn't have anything else to think about, he suddenly found himself remembering the last night of insanity he had had, which happened to be a few days ago. So, Stephanie had be conscience enough to know he was the one who helped him. Well, at least he knew that his efforts didn't go unrewarded. He had to wonder if she would have been so nice of him..dropping in, to say, if he hadn't helped her out.  
  
Probably not. He couldn't say for sure, though. He did figure that would be the last time they'd ever act civil to each other again. She said it herself, she paid him back by saving him from a very painful death. Small world, huh? He wasn't particularily excited about the night he was about to have, considering that Austin was still not very pleased with him. He could feel the pain he was going to be inflicted with all ready.  
  
He sighed and got ready for another fun-filled day. In actuality, it had been pretty quiet since that night, but it didn't make Chris feel any better. There was always that little calm in between the storm, where you think it's over and it really isn't. He knew it was going to be like that. It was like a nagging, horrible feeling that just sat at the pit of his gut.  
  
He decided to visit Benoit's room. He hadn't talked to him in awhile, and tonight was his last night before he went back to his house for more real rest for his neck. He opened the door after he got ready and walked out of his room. The walk was a short distance, and soon he was in front of the door, knocking on it. A few seconds later, a very sleepy looking Benoit appeared from behind the door, and he looked at Jericho sleepily.  
  
"Chris?" he inquired wearily.  
  
"I didn't wake you, did I?" he grinned.  
  
"No, of course not. I wear boxers as clothes all the time." he replied sarcastically.  
  
"Well, that's good to hear. I must say, though, green really isn't your color." Chris laughed. Benoit yawned.  
  
"Is there a reason why you're here besides commenting on my clothing?" Benoit smirked.  
  
"Wanna go get something to eat?" Jericho asked.  
  
"Not especially, but I have a feeling I'm not going to have a choice." he responded.  
  
"Bingo." Chris grinned as his friend mumbled something under his breath.  
  
"Fine." he replied in defeat. "Just let me get changed. Come on in."  
  
Chris walked in, sitting on the still messy bed of his friend's as he got ready. It didn't take long, and soon they were both at a table in a very sleepy little diner, and it was basically empty. Benoit had his head on the table, looking like he was trying to fall asleep again.  
  
"Are you comfortable?" Jericho smirked.   
  
"Yes." Benoit replied before yawning.  
  
"It's 9 am, you used to be up before me." he laughed.  
  
"Yeah. What happened to you? You used to be so lazy. Why can't you be like that any more?" Benoit asked, looking at him.  
  
"I guess you were such a positive role model to me." he sniggered, stirring the milk into his coffee.  
  
"Do me a favor, go back to being the lazy ass you used to be." Benoit yawned. "So, how's it going? Haven't talked to you in a few days."  
  
"Just trying to forget the last few days." Chris replied, sipping the coffee carefully. "I have a bad feeling about tonight."  
  
"What do you mean?" Benoit inquired, drinking his own straight black coffee.  
  
"Well, I don't know." he sighed. "It's been too quiet these last few days. Sort of like the calm before a storm."  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure nothing will happen. Don't be so paranoid." he imparted.  
  
"Austin's going to go after me." he groaned.  
  
"Sure he is, but you can take him. I have faith in you my friend." Benoit grinned.  
  
"I can take a normal Austin, but not an insane one. He's gonna be insane with rage because I stopped him from completeing his little task of being an example and stuff. He's gonna rip me apart." Chris shuddered involunatarily.  
  
"Hey, maybe he'll be so mad he'll give you a title shot." he shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, and I'm sure it'll end like every other shot I had." he sighed.  
  
"Hey, I have the same track record you have." Benoit pointed out.  
  
"How could I forget?" he chuckled. "We're way too similar for our own good. Either way, I won't hold my breath, even if I did happen to get the title chance."  
  
"You're so bitter." Benoit replied dryly, giving him a smirk.  
  
"Well, it happens when you're screwed at least 6 times in 3 years." he mumbled.  
  
"Well, I'm sure one day you'll have your day in the sun." Benoit nodded. "Hopefully I'll be there to take it and taunt you like the evil jackass I am."  
  
"You're such a great friend." Chris smirked as Benoit beamed.  
  
"I know!" he laughed. "Seriously, though, don't worry so much. You're going to make your hair go white and then no one will be able to call you a Backstreet Boy. That would be a tragedy."  
  
"I like my hair." he pouted.  
  
And then the rest of the day was quiet. He sort of just hung around, talked to people he knew, and basically really kept to himself when he could. He kept getting that feeling, that he wss going to have a very very bad match, that he was going to get his ass kicked.  
  
And then it came true. He was sitting innocently in a locker room with Benoit when the door suddenly smashed in. Both he and Benoit jumped up, but Austin made a beeline to Jericho, smashing him into the wall. Benoit tried to step in, but Austin basically pushed him aside, making him trip over a chair and smash into one of the slots. With him dazed, he turned his attention to Jericho, pinning him to a wall.  
  
"Not so brave now, are you? What? Stop squirming." He let go enough that Jericho could catch his glare. "I don't like it when people get in my business. When people do that, I get very angry. So hey, I'm feeling generous. What..? I said I'm feeling generous. You think you can beat me? I'm Stone Cole Steve Austin, damnit! Right here, tonight, for this title, you're going to face me." Austin snarled, putting the belt right to his face. "You see this? You're never going to get any closer to this belt. Look at you, you're pathetic. You're pathetic Jericho! And tonight, I'll kick your ass once and for all. What? You be there, you silly little blonde bastard." He let him go, and Jericho fell to the ground, gasping for air. Jericho watched Austin simply walk out, still wincing at the long chokehold he was in.  
  
He managed to stand, shaking it off. He had gained his air passage again, and his breathing shallowed. He quickly hopped over the chair Benoit had tripped over and helped his friend up. He was wincing, but he didn't look that hurt, perhaps a little dazed.  
  
"You were saying about me being paranoid?" Jericho smirked as Benoit got to his feet.  
  
"Kick his ass." Benoit replied angrily. "For both of us."  
  
And the match came way too quickly. Jericho was actually really worried about his safety. Austin almost strangled him into unconsciencness. He winced at the memory of his hands on his neck. By the time the match started, Jericho had only slightly been able to psych himself up for the insanity that was going to be going on. Austin didn't take much time to go after him.  
  
By the end of the match, he was dead tired. Austin was ruthless, and Jericho feared he would look even worse then Angle did in the end of his Summerslam match. He was giving it his all, and managed to down Austin for a moment so he could catch his breath and get back a little more strenght. That's when he saw her.  
  
When the hell did she come down, he had to wonder. He eyed Stephanie warily, smelling another defeat again because of her, but deciding that it was worth trying. He went after Austin again, and she didn't cheer for Austin, but she didn't do anything for him either. She was distracting him, and he hated her for that. He wasn't suppose to be distracted by her when she wasn't doing anything.  
  
And then the ref went down. When Jericho saw that, he knew he was screwed. It was like a reply of his last 5 title matches, probably even more. Austin quickly started playing unfair, and Jericho soon got clocked in the head with the title belt. He fell over, his body not willing him to get up. He felt Austin pin him, and he knew it was over. That was it. The ref was awake of course, and began counting. One. Jericho had more or less given up hope of kicking out. Two. He closed his eyes, waiting for the third. And then it didn't come.  
  
Austin got off him, and he managed to get up slightly finally, the weight not pushing him down any longer. Through a tangle of sweat-glisened hair, Jericho saw what had happened. He managed to stand up, and his now much more focused eyesight confirmed it. Stephanie had pulled the ref out of the ring. She stopped the count. Austin was against the ropes, arguing with the two. Jericho saw his opening.  
  
He pulled him into a school boy pin. He felt a sudden surge of energy as he pushed down the flailing Austin. He heard the count. One. Jericho continued to push as hard as he could down so Austin would stay in. Two. He felt his grip weakening. He twitched, suddenly remembering Benoit's own words. This was his time to shine. He suddenly felt himself get a better hold, and the third count was more or less like a dream. He got off, and managed to stay on his feet, but only barely. He had..won?  
  
He heard his music blaring. The idea hadn't registered yet, until he heard his name and WWF champion together. He looked up at the ramp for a moment, seeing Stephanie looking at him with an approved look on her face before disappearing behind the curtain. The ref handed him the title, and he just suddenly had an urge.  
  
Austin was on the ground, still a bit dazed. Jericho stood over him, putting the belt close to his face, a wicked smile on his face. "You see this, Austin?" he hissed. "Take a good look at this. Because it's MINE now, you silly little bastard." he mimicked. He kicked his middle section, and Austin twitched at it, holding his ribs. Jericho easily held the belt up for all to see.  
  
But he couldn't say he won it by himself, and he knew it. Stephanie McMahon had just approvingly helped him take it from her own team champion, and Jericho couldn't be any more confused.  
  



	11. See? Chris Can Be Nice..Yep..

He was greeted by a barrage of WWF staff when he got to the back. So, this was what it felt like. Everyone was congradulating him, especially the people who actually REALLY liked him, which of course was almost everyone but a few odd ones, including Vince. Vince was happy, but Chris knew he probably would have been happier if Kurt one. But fuck that, he didn't give a shit. He had won!  
  
When the crowd finally disappeared, Chris finally got a chance to rest. He didn't know how many pats on the back he got, how many hugs, but damn, it had to be a lot, and all the excitement made him feel even more tired. In the end, it was only him and Benoit.  
  
"Nice belt you got there." Benoit chuckled. Jericho shook his head, still looking a bit awed by it all.  
  
"She was the only reason I won. I fought the match myself, held my own, but I wouldn't have been able to pin him without her. He was just going to cheat me again." Jericho just blurt out. Benoit nodded.  
  
"I saw." he confirmed. "Everyone was in dead shock."  
  
"We have to find her." he sighed. Benoit looked at him, curiously. "Chris, you know she's going to be in deep shit because she basically handed the 'flag' of the Alliance over to the enemy."  
  
"She's probably gone." Benoit replied. "I don't think she'd..hey, do you hear anything?"  
  
"What?" Jericho blinked. "No..why?" He watched as Benoit walked toward a small area of boxes near them. He followed, and he quickly heard what Benoit was talking about. Noises from behind the small tower of boxes.  
  
Jericho cautiously moved a box and felt his breath get caught in his throat. "Oh shit.." he heard Benoit mumble under his breath. Jericho slowly reached over, touching the shoulder of Stephanie McMahon, who was more or less curled into a shaking ball. She recoiled at his touch.  
  
"No! Leave me alone--" she whimpered. Jericho's felt his gaze soften.  
  
"Steph, it's me. Chris." he informed her. She slowly uncurled, looking toward him. Jericho almost had to back away in shock. Her face..it had a huge bruise on her cheek. Her left arm was bleedng from a gash, and on her right there were various little bruises he hadn't noticed before.  
  
"Chris?" she asked, weakly. "Please don't hurt me.." He noticed her tone was that of someone whimpering.  
  
"We have to get her out of here." he informed Benoit, who nodded. "Steph, come on, let's go, huh?"  
  
"No," she replied, her voice shakey.  
  
"I promise I won't do anything to you. Christ, you helped me get the WWF title, I should hug you." Chris swore. Stephanie looked at him, then slowly stood up, on wobbily legs. He offered a hand and she took it, carefully stepping over the boxes. That was when she fainted.  
  
Chris caught her with quick speed. She slumped into his arms. He softly picked her up. "Come on, let's get her out of here."  
  
"Where are we gonna take her?" Benoit asked.  
  
"My room, your room..it doesn't matter. We can't just leave her here." Jericho responded. Benoit sighed and nodded.  
  
"Your room." he smirked. He sighed and pulled off his shirt. "Hold her still."  
  
"What are you doing?" he inquired. Benoit softly picked up the still bleeding arm of Stephanie, wrapping his shirt around the wound, tying it tight enough against it.  
  
"Stopping the blood flow." he explained. "Let's go."  
  
Benoit had helped him get her to his room, but then declined to stay, considering he had to get SOME sleep so he wouldn't be late for his plane. So now he was stuck with a fainted, beat up girl that had been a bitch to him for a year and a half in his room, and he had to take care of her. He laid her gently on a bed, then went to the little kitchen area which had very cheap but useful bowls.  
  
He filled a bowl with water, then grabbed a hand towel and walked to her side. He carefully took off the shirt Benoit had put around her to try to stop the blood flow from her cut arm, and found it had worked, but now her arm was caked with dried blood. He dipped the towel into the water, and began to clean the area. He felt incredibly stupid, and had no clue why he was doing it, but it just felt right to him.  
  
She stirred when he went to refresh the water. He turned to see her sit up only slightly, enough so she could look around. He walked back to her, putting the bowl down again. She looked up at him, a mix of worry and confusion on her face.  
  
"Hold still. You were doing fine when you were out." he commanded her as he wiped away the last of the blood on her arm. She blinked, and Jericho realized just how tired and almost sad she looked. He couldn't believe he never noticed it before.  
  
"You don't have to do this." she whispered. He looked at her briefly, then shook his head.  
  
"This is my fault, of course I do." he responded. He pulled out a few bandages. "It's not that bad, but make sure you keep it covered." He went back to silence as he placed a few bandages on it to cover it completely. "I'm sure you'll find something better to cover it later."  
  
"This isn't your fault." She was fully awake. He watched her slide up into a sitting position. "I brought this on myself."  
  
"Well, either way, I want too." he chuckled dryly. "You all right now?"  
  
"Not really." she sighed. "Congradulations on your win, by the way."  
  
"Speaking of that.." he trailed off. "A little question..um..why DID you help me?"  
  
"Well, I thought the title was really around the wrong waist. Not that it's right around your waist either, but you're a little bit better then Austin." she explained.  
  
"I'm honored." he smirked.  
  
"You should be." she nodded. "Either way, it seems people didn't agree with me. After almost getting--well, all right, I did get my ass kicked by a few people, I managed to hide, and that's about the time you found me.."  
  
"They attacked you?"  
  
"Do you blame them?" she glanced at him.  
  
"Yes." he responded truthfully. "No one should hit a girl."  
  
"That's a bit surprising sounding coming from someone like you." she raised a brow.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Jericho grinned slightly. "I've decided to take up the gentleman role. Isn't it amazing?"  
  
"I'm severely doubting that." she sniggered.  
  
"All right, fine. I'm just trying to be a nice guy for once." he shrugged. "You did something you didn't have to do for me, so I did the same."  
  
"Won't my dad be mad at you when he finds out you have me in your room?" she inquired.  
  
"Probably." he grinned. "Like that ever stopped me from doing what I want. Don't worry about me. You can stay here for the night if you want."  
  
"Stay here?" she squeaked. Chris rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well, you could always go to your room and get jumped." he smirked. "Listen, I actually have no alterior motives for once. Take my offer or leave it."  
  
"..All right." she sighed in defeat. "But if you try something--"  
  
"I hate to break your disillusion about how I am, Princess, but I'm actually not such a horrible horrible guy." he grinned. "I can be very nice when I want to be."  
  
"And when's that? Every other 4 years?" she questioned sharply.  
  
"All right, I deserved that." Jericho conceded. "But really, I'm trying."  
  
"Why?" she questioned. "I mean, yeah, I did help you, but you know that was more for me then you."  
  
"Do I always need a reason?" he asked, trying to weasel his way out of the real reason.  
  
"Well, considering that you've been acting kind of weird this past week to me..yeah, you do." she smirked.  
  
"Besides the fact I just did it to be nice, you're also pretty handy to have around, considering you could tell me everything your federation is planning on doing. I guess that's why." he replied, shrugging, trying hard not to sound like he was lying.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so." she responded, cautiously  
  
"Well, I'm going to sleep." he announced, cutting the conversation before it kept going. He looked her over and winced at her basically blood covered shirt. "I guess you need something else to wear."  
  
"No, I--" she looked at her shirt, noticing why he brought it up, and quickly changed her mind about declining. "If you have one.." she finally replied, trying to sound casual.  
  
"I'm sure I could fish up one." he responded, going through his bag. He tossed her his Lugz shirt.  
  
"You..cleaned this, right?" she asked, cautiously.  
  
"No, Steph, it's covered in 2 months worth of sweat and grime." he rolled his eyes. "Of course I cleaned it."  
  
"Just making sure." she smirked.  
  
Chris all ready knew this was going to be another very very LONG week. 


	12. Partners? Wow, that's new!

"Chris.." he twitched, only half-consciously hearing the soft voice in his ear. "Chris!!"  
  
"Wha..what?" he mumbled, his eyes flying open. He peered through the darkness and saw a figure standing over him.  
  
"I heard a noise outside." he heard a whisper inform him. He groaned, finally understanding who woke him up.  
  
"You woke me up for that?" he grumbled.  
  
"I did hear something, I mean it." she responded lowly. Her voice trembled, but he was still too tired to take her seriously. He turned away, covering himself with the blanket.  
  
"Tell it to shut up, then." he yawned, closing his eyes again.  
  
"I'm not joking around." her voice quivered. Chris sighed, sitting up.  
  
"If I go look at your noise, will you go to sleep?" he asked wearily.  
  
"Yes." she responded. He sleepily got up and stretched. He reached over and turned the light on.  
  
"See? Nothing." he pointed out. He walked to the bathroom, turning the light on, showing her no one was there. He opened the door and peeked outside, seeing no one even close to his room. "Now, can I go back to sleep?" He turned to see her in tears. This was just..lovely.  
  
"I'm sorry." she replied, turning away, walking to her bed.  
  
"You're really scared, aren't you?" he realized. He heard her give a heavy sigh. "Listen, you're safe here."  
  
"For now." she replied bitterly. "And then all the WWF will find out I'm here..it'll be what happened last night all over again."  
  
"Are you still on that? Hey, if it makes you feel better, I now have ultimate control on the WWF, 'coz of this thing." he motioned to his WWF title.  
  
"That doesn't make me feel better, that just scares me." she replied through still-running tears.  
  
"You really can ruin a good moment." he rolled his eyes. She didn't seem too amused, actually, she looked even more upset then before. "What is it going to take for you to just TRUST me? All right, I know it might be hard, but right now I'm your only lifeline, and you know it."  
  
And then his answer came with a hug that he suddenly recieved. First, shock set in, and he felt numb for a second. Then it settled, and he found he had embraced her back, letting her cry on his shoulder. It felt weird, yes, but a good kind of weird.  
  
"Come on, don't cry." he soothed. "You're not suppose to show me weakness. We're enemies, remember?"  
  
"That's the pathetic part." her voice was muffled in his bare chest, which she was against.  
  
Chris knew she was really just insane with all the pressure. She probably didn't even know who she was actually hugging. Still, he found himself unable to ignore the fact that he was sane and he was enjoying the feel of her in his arms. In the end, she basically cried herself to sleep, and he sat on her bed and held her hand, like she had asked him too.  
  
And then it was morning. Chris opened his eyes, finding himself lying now. The last thing he remembered was sitting up, watching her twitch in her sleep, like the nightmare of her life even continued on when in what should be the safest place. Every time he saw it, he squeezed her hand comfortingly, and she seemed to be at rest once again.  
  
But now he was lying down. He sleepily looked down and noticed exactly where he was. He must have fallen asleep on the bed, and tilted over so his head rested on her legs. And she was watching him. He hurried sat up, trying not to completely blush. What would people think of him now--he had slept on Stephanie an entire night.  
  
"I'm sorry." he apologized, trying hurriedly to hide his blushing. She smiled and shook her head.  
  
"I was enjoying watching the only moment I think I've ever seen you look innocent." she informed him with a straight face. So, she really meant it. She curled her legs, seeming to flex them. "Too bad it made me lose feeling in my legs."  
  
"I guess I fell asleep." he shook his head.  
  
"Obviously." she nodded.  
  
"You seem..happier this morning." he used his words cautiously. He didn't want her into her freak-out mode again.  
  
"I've decided something." she said, getting on her knees now so she was resting on them.  
  
"What's that?" he asked.  
  
"I'm going to be your valet." she said matter-of-factly.  
  
Chris suddenly felt a rush of memory hit him. He blinked, shaking his head, the memory hitting him pretty hard and so fast..it surprised him. Valet..valet..something about a valet..he tried to continue on with the memory, tried to open it..what it was trying to tell him was the one thing that he kept thinking about..it was the thing that was making him go insane.  
  
"Chris, is something wrong?" her voice broke through his thoughts, but he looked at her for a moment, and then it just came to him. It was so simple. Why the hell hadn't he remembered it earlier?  
  
"You promised me you'd be in my corner.." he mumbled to himself. She looked at him, confused.  
  
"What?" she inquired.  
  
"That's it!" he jumped out. "I knew it was something!" Stephanie looked at him like he was crazy.  
  
"Are you spazzing out again on me?" she frowned, standing up.  
  
"No! Listen, Steph.." he felt giddy suddenly. "You don't seem to remember it, and you know, I didn't either.."  
  
"What ARE you talking about?" she eyed him.  
  
"So you don't remember, all right..let me enlighten you. See, I overheard Chris talking to Lita a week ago, and he was talking about something interesting.." Chris paused, deciding to just go out with it. "Steph, you might not remember, but you told your dad to watch me when I was first starting out. Do you remember that?"  
  
"...You know about that?" she inquired. He noticed she had turned an odd shade of pink.  
  
"Wait, so you remember?' he asked.  
  
"Well yeah, and I've been trying to keep it a secret." she laughed. "For obvious reasons. I mean, what would people say if they found out I actually--" she stopped dead sentence, like she realized what she was saying.  
  
"Actually what?" he questioned.  
  
"Nothing. Nothing at all." she quickly said, shaking her head.  
  
"Anyway, when you said you'd be my valet, you finally helped me remember what I forgot." he continued, letting her slide. "You told me..if I remember right..that you'd be in my corner if your dad ever let you get into the ring. And it's taken a year, but it seems you're living up to your promise, eh?"  
  
"Still, I'm a bit intimated by what people will say.." she trailed off.  
  
"Think about what they'll say about me.." he shrugged. "It's no biggie. With me, you'll become instantly a fan favorite. Like me!"  
  
"Did anyone ever tell you you have a really big ego?" she smirked.  
  
"..My ego is the perfect size! Why do people keep saying that?!" he groaned. 


	13. So, Looks Like They're Stuck Together..

Chris didn't want to say it outloud, but he was as worried as Stephanie was about exactly what people would say. Having her as a valet would surprise quite a few people, along with Vince who probably thought all ready that he was leaving the WWF because of his..sudden odd tendences to help his enemy. Of course, this didn't stop him from agreeing, because in truth it was his decision and no one else's, but still..  
  
He had to work to get people to trust her. The Alliance would be after her. If she was with him, that meant she jumped ship. She was WWF again. Being a traitor didn't sit well with the other side. But how would he get people to understand? He didn't know why he was so readily believeing her himself.  
  
People always said never trust a McMahon, right?  
  
What if she was just up to another scheme? Tears were easy to fake. Hell, he knew she would go as far as to let someone hurt her on purpose to trick him. But still..for some reason, he just trusted her word, perhaps because she helped him get the title and he knew Austin would never have agreed with that, the title was his life. Whatever it was, he decided to just go with it.  
  
"I'll have to tell Vince about this." he said, a bit tentitively, as he mindlessly thumbed through a magazine he had to have read a hundred times. He snuck a glance at her. She looked like she was a bit downtroddened by the idea.  
  
"I know." she replied. "And he's going to wonder about your sanity."  
  
"To tell you the truth, I wonder about it myself." he responded, stretching out on the bed. "But that's why I'm absolutely going for it. I don't like being predictable."  
  
"Yeah, I tend to see that about you." she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Hey, I must be doing something right, I got you to trust me in..oh.." he looked at his watch. "12 hours or so?"  
  
"Who says I trust you?" she raised a brow.  
  
"Well, I would hope you trust me, I mean, I know I wouldn't offer to be a sidekick to my enemies usually." he smirked.  
  
"Not a sidekick, a valet," she corrected. "I'm not wearing a cape and you're not a superhero."  
  
"..Who told you my secret?!" he asked mockingly. She gave him a 'You're an idiot' look. "I know, I know, you're only helping me because I'm the only one not ready to kill you..and the irony in that is dripping, trust me, I know."  
  
"So if you know that, why are you letting me 'use' you like that?" she inquired, sounding curious.  
  
"I'm not being used," he shook his head. "I don't get used. I could have kicked your ass, but I didn't. You are a very VERY valuable person now, considering that you've basically turned your back on your company. You know things. Lots of things you shouldn't know on this side of the battlefield. You, Stephanie, are a damn Benidict Arnold, and I'm the British armyman who must bring you to the general!"  
  
"..What the hell are you talking about?" she paused. "..And didn't Benidict Arnold end up fleeing the United States and going to the English side, ultimately getting less respect then before? And aren't you Canadian?"  
  
"I was making an example," he groaned.  
  
"Well it wasn't a very good one," she replied prepensively.  
  
"Can we please get off the subject of my example?" he asked, exasperated. "Anyway, I'm not doing this because I absolutely want too, sorry to break that image up. I'm not free service bodyguarding."  
  
"So name your price." she replied simply.  
  
"It's very simple. You tell your dad everything you can about your old team..oh, and if I find out you lie even a little TEENY bit..well..you'll just have to see how fun that will be." he grinned almost sadistically.  
  
"Talk to my dad?" she sighed. "I'm sure THAT will go well."  
  
"It might, it might not." he shrugged. "I said it before, the title you happened to help me get is like..the holy grail of wrestling. In the wrong hands..well, look at Austin..but with someone like ME.."  
  
"You like to talk about yourself a lot, don't you?" she questioned. He shrugged.  
  
"When you got it.." he replied honestly.  
  
"What do YOU got?" she asked, turning to him. "Why do you think you're so..special, anyway?"  
  
"Come on..look at me..nice body..cool hair..funny personality..everyone loves me." he beamed.  
  
"Did I ever tell you that you scare me sometimes?" she asked after a pause.  
  
"Nope, but thanks for telling me." he laughed. "So, is it a deal Mizz McMahon?"  
  
"..When do we see my dad?" she asked.  
  
"Soon as possible." he responded, nodding. "Like..todayish? Well, more like..this morning."  
  
"That soon?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I think--" A knock at the door. "We'll talk about this later." She nodded, and he got up and answered the door.  
  
"Chris!" Jericho suddenly felt defensive, his mind flashing back to all the previous times his boss showed up at his door.  
  
"I did nothing." he responded quickly.  
  
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I agree with you." Vince laughed. Chris relaxed a little. Say, this was actually pretty handy. Now they didn't have to go to him. He came to them. As long as he wasn't in trouble..  
  
"I just wanted to come and congradulate you personally on your win." he explained.  
  
"About that, Vance.." he trailed off. "I have someone I want you to see, follow me." Vince looked a bit confused, but followed him inside. Chris smirked. "Come out."  
  
"I'm not here." he heard her mumble. Vince blinked, walking to the other side of the bed, his eyes focusing on Stephanie.  
  
"Stephanie?" he asked, sounding shocked. She sighed, pulling herself up.  
  
"Hello Daddy." she frowned. He turned to Chris.  
  
"What is this? Are you leaving the WWF?" he demanded.  
  
"No, actually, we're gaining a new member, I believe." he gestured to her again. "She helped me get the title, remember that."  
  
"But Chris, I don't know--" he frowned, his eyes never leaving her.  
  
"And she knows everything we need to know to end the Alliance. Vance, I swear, it's a perfect opportunity." he continued.  
  
"Very true..well..if I agree to this, she's your responsiblity." he eyed her wearily.  
  
"Absolutely." he nodded. "I'll get all the info you're need."  
  
"Fine." Vince finally said after a long pause. "I have business to take care of. Chris, it's been good talking to you."  
  
"Yep. C-ya." Vince gave Stephanie a look again, then walked out of the room.  
  
"He doesn't trust me." Stephanie said when he was gone.  
  
"Give him time." Jericho replied.  
  
Jericho knew it was only going to get harder, but he didn't tell her that. He couldn't.  
  
~~~~~~~~~  
  
End of story part one. Look for the next in this series--Better Days. 


End file.
